An Adelaide man charged with trying to kill his young daughter now intends to admit to the offence, but his legal team has suggested a "psychological breakdown" may have caused his behaviour.
Shaun Preston Mate last year pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder against his then three-year-old daughter in July 2020.
Police forced their way into Mr Mate's Eden Hills home and discovered both him and his daughter unresponsive and suffering from hypoxia.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court has previously heard that in the lead-up to the alleged attempted murder, Mr Mate's marriage was "falling apart" and he had become "desperate".
It also heard Mr Mate eventually had a "change of mind" and decided he "couldn't do that [take his daughter's life] in the end".
In South Australia's Supreme Court on Friday – just three days out from the beginning of Mr Mate's trial — defence lawyer Marie Shaw QC told the court her client now intended to admit to "the objective elements of the offence".
But Ms Shaw told the court she had a "duty" to consider whether there could be an issue of mental incompetence at play for her client.
She said she wished to order a psychological report to "judge whether he had a psychological breakdown".
"What's a psychological breakdown?" Auxiliary Justice Geraldine Davison asked.
"There is no suggestion that my client suffers from a psychosis … but I have a duty to consider whether [it is an issue]," Ms Shaw replied.
Under South Australian law, an accused person has the option to raise a defence of mental incompetence, if it can be shown through evidence that they were unable to control their actions or understand the criminal nature of the behaviour.
Application timing 'most unsatisfactory'
Justice Davison labelled the request for a psychological report as "most unsatisfactory" so close to the beginning of the trial.
"You have been engaged in this matter for a long time," she said to Ms Shaw.
"The trial has been listed for some time [but] your client will not be pleading guilty, nor not guilty [on Monday].
"A consideration such as this … should have been dealt with at a much earlier stage.
"It causes difficulties in relation to the running of the matter … because technically I have to vacate the trial date and give this another date."
Prosecutor Kos Lesses told the court it was the "first time" he had heard of the application.
"A psychological breakdown is a very ambiguous case," Mr Lesses said.
"I struggle to see how any reasonable defence of mental incompetence would arise [in Mr Mate's case].
Mr Lesses indicated prosecutors would seek to present evidence from other expert sources regarding Mr Mate's mental state, if necessary.
Justice Davison said she had "no option other than to adjourn the trial".
"It is not lost on me that there are a number of people for which this is a most unsatisfactory outcome … to today's proceedings," she said.
Ms Shaw said if the report indicated "no issue" then the court "should be able to proceed" to sentencing submissions.
The matter returns to court next month.
